
E-^lz 



Gass 



AN 



ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



NEW YORK STATE 







WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY, 



Gen'l ALEXANDER 8. WEBB, 



SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 



1873. 



PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY, 

MDCCCLXXni. 



E.WELLS SACZETT&BEO., 

Stationers and Printers, 

56 JE 58 William St.— New York. 







STATE OF NEW YORK 



SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI, 



July 4, 1872. 



President, Hon. HAMILTON FISH, LL.D. 

Vice-President, WILLIAM S. POPHAM. 

Secretary, Rev. MARINUS WILLETT. 

Treasurer, HENRY H. WARD. 

Assist. Treasurer JOHN TORRE Y, M.D., LL.D. 

Chaplain, Rev. MANCIUS S. BUTTON, D.D. 

Physician, ALEXANDER CLINTON, M.D. 



Standing Committee 



PIERRE VAN CORTLANDP, 
WILLIAM STUART, 
WICKHAM HOFFMAN, 
WM. H. CROSBY, 



JOHN SCHUYLER, 
THOS. W. CHRYSTIE, 
JOHN W. GREATON, 
ALEX. HAMILTON, Jr. 



Extract from the Minutes of the Annhersary Meeting 
of the New York State Socletij of the Ginchinati, 
held at the Neuo Yorh Society Lilrary, July Uh, 

1872. 

Mr. Crosby ofiferecl tlie following resolution, wliicli was seconded 
by Mr. Hamilton, and unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That a Meeting of the Society be held hereafter on the 22(1 of February in 
each year, and that a Committee be appointed to make the necessary arrangements for 
the meeting next February. 

Messrs. Gkeaton, Cochrane and Crosby were appointed as 
sucli Committee, 



Extract from the Minutes of a meeting of the New 
York State Society of the Cincimiati, held at 
Delmonico^s on Saturday evening, February 226? 
18Y3. 
On motion of Mr. Crosby it was unanimously 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be tendered to General Webb for his appro 
priate and instructive address, and that the Secretary be requested to draft a resolution 
expressive of their appreciation of the eloquent appeal of the orator of the evening, and 
to have said address printed for the use of the Society. 



Extract from the Minutes of a Regular Meeting of the 
Standing Committee of the New Yoi^k State Society 
of the Cincinnati, held at the New York Society 
Library on Thursday, May 226?, 1873. 

The following resolution, offered by the Secretary, in accord- 
ance with the request of the Society, was read and unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be tendered to General Alexander S. Webb 
for acceding so promptly to the request of the Committee to supply the place of the 
orator of the day, Alexander Hamilton, Jr., who was prevented by severe illness from 
fulfilling the appointment. We desire, also, to express our appreciation of the important 
service rendered in setting forth so forcibly the mission and responsibilities of this Society 
to the community, and in enforcing those obligations upon the individual members, 

MARINUS WILLETT, 

Sccrelanj. 



ADDRESS. 



We meet to-niglit, comrades of the Society of 
the Cincinnati, the descendants of the "Founders 
of the Nation," to do honor to their precious 
memories, and in honoring them we respect our- 
selves. 

It is on this day, more than on any other day 
of the year, that we should meet ; not for routine 
business transactions, but to interchange thoughts 
and wishes for the Public good. 

As leader among the "Founders of the Nation," 
stands our First President, whose memory is so 
dear, and it seems to me to be a duty to recall 
some of the sentiments he would express were he 
before us. 

"Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common 
country, that country has a right to concentrate 
our affections." 

To you he appealed— to you he to-day appeals 
— a common country calls for your concentrated 
affections. 



8 CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 

Conservators of the Union, here within our 
Society I seek that element of Conservation which 
pronounces silence a crime, indifference a violation 
of trust, true Citizenship, Godlike. 

Not the memory of Thomas, Meade, Sedgwick, 
Kearney, Wadsworth or Greble— not the heroic 
reputations of Farragut or Worden— not the 
recollections of Corinth, Gettysburg, Mobile Bay, 
or Antietam— not thoughts of that noble Presi- 
dent, relying on his God, believing in the right, 
fearless in his strict integrity,— kind and affection- 
ate, and trusting to his subordinates ; not the 
memory of that noble Cabinet ; not the sacrifices 
of men like Abbot, Holmes, Palfrey of Massa- 
chusetts, of Ellis, and hosts of men of New York 
and other States ,• not the visions of gray-haired 
old men leading to death itself thciv sons and neigh- 
bors, not the plaintive widow's wail, not the fear- 
ful cry from dreary prison-pens ; not the glory oi 
a successful struggle with the demon of Rebellion ; 
not the burst of glorious joy that Appomatox's 
sun had set on "peace;" not one of these can 
form the theme to-day! These belonged to the 
Preservation of the Union, not to its Conser- 
v^ation. 
Statesmen are needed, and we have, as a nation, 



CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 9 

most certainly proved our ability to produce 
them at times of crisis, and we will no doubt con- 
tinue to do so for many a year to come ; but 
these men cannot accomplish all. It belongs to 
Societies such as ours to work to unite, for all 
time, with forces ever secure, the hearts, the 
minds, the aims, the interests of all within our 
borders. 

We should find all American citizens to-day full 
of patriotic thought and desire for national pro- 
gress and national unity. The man who neglects 
himself and passes coldly by, whilst a nation does 
honor to Washington, will rise to-morrow less of 
a true citizen of these United States than we 
should ever dare to be. 

If I speak to-night upon a subject near my 
thoughts for years past, remember that I do so 
with much diffidence, and only because to me 
"the day we celebrate'' brings always with it 
considerations such as these. 

Are we not to be before the world as Conserva- 
tors of this Union, inasmuch as our forefathers 
were its Founders ? Do we remember this in all 
places and at all times ? Do we neglect any 
opportunity to use our influence to nationalize 
each citizen ? 



10 CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 

I am afraid that too many of us are New York 
men, and I would declare to you that there is 
nothing more dangerous, nothing more subtle in 
its influence, than this very tendency on our part ; 
acknowledging, at the same time, that it is an evil 
consequent upon the very nature of a Republic. 

Upon this subject, Washington says : 
" The name of American, which belongs to you 
" in your national capacity, must always exalt the 
"just pride of patriotism more than any appella- 
" tion derived from local discriminations." 

Nothing but an open declaration of our national 
feeling upon all national questions, whether be- 
fore our Congress or not, will guide us to any 
successful combats with this fatal tendency to 
over-estimate the lesser interest ; and if any of 
us will watch with care to find the opportunity to 
speak he will not be without a reward for his 
solicitude. 

How many State Societies of the Cincinnati exist 
to-day ? What have we done for other branches 
which we beheld withering and dying and falling 

finally to the ground, disfiguring the dear old 
trunk and leaving only a mouldering relic at the 
base, to remind us of decay ? Have we not lost. 



CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 11 

some precious moments ? Could we not revive 
the shattered stems ? Are not the leaves that 
rustle on the branches, new or old, the same to us 
in our conception of their mission? All have the 
same functions and an united relation to the 
parent trunk. 

Conservatism is protection from detriment. When 
this Union was once founded, our Forefathers 
turned their eyes to the "future," and it seems as 
if we could see them solemnl}^ quietly, turning 
from their finished works of patriotism in war to 
the future duty of Conservatism in Peace. These 
duties devolve upon us. We cannot, must not 
shrink from them. 

Mr. Chairman, he who has been called upon to 
address you is little fitted to advise those whom 
he loves, respects, and regards as his seniors. 

It may be, however, that an education derived 
from a National Institution has given him some 
peculiar advantages over those who have not been 
placed in a position, which by its very nature, 
should make men cosmopolitan. 

It is not his intention to presume on this pecu- 
liarity of his antecedents ; but by reason of them 
he cannot refrain from presenting the thoughts he 
finds uppermost. 



12 CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 

Accepting gladly the instruction contained in 
Washington's Farewell Address, he has found in 
peace that a change of residence within our na- 
tional borders has not produced a feeling of expa- 
triation, and he has, quite naturally, concluded 
that this is owing to the infusion of a national feeling 
in the instruction received, and a natural interest 
in comrades receiving it. Is not, must not, this 
be the clue to the solution of the problem? It 
there be danger ahead, is it not to be met by just 
such safeguards as these ? Is it not due to our 
very origin that we, above all other Societies, 
should advance and propagate this doctrine ? 
Whatever you may think, I for one announce my 
determination to work for all time, (to me by Pro- 
vidence allotted), to cause the 3'outh of our coun- 
try to care for the whole country, regardless of that 
State system, which is pernicious in its influence, 
unworthy of us as a nation, degrading and destruc- 
tive in its action, unless subordinated. .And this 
I state in its most unattractive terms, because the 
very positions I have held, force me to feel, all 
the more strongly, the baneful influences of the 
terrible doctrines of State Rights. 

To accomplish this we must announce our Con- 
servatism. No shrinking here my brethren ! We 



CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 13 

must, we will work for a single end, and with our 
increase will come our strength. 

What greater incentive, what greater glory, 
what greater duty, can devolve upon us. " Ex- 
celsior" for us— for others " Redivivus." Open 
wide the gates, if the spirit of 1783 will thereby 
be secured. "Tis that spirit, that blood, we seek. 
No feeling of intolerance will be submitted to, no 
exclusion from the good work will be for a mo- 
ment for our consideration. No doctrine of pro- 
mogeniture will assist us. For our whole country, 
for the memories of our ancestors, for our own 
reputation, be it acknowledged and promulgated 
that we -accept the responsibilities, since the 
mantle of Elijah has fallen upon Elisha, and our 
boast will be that they who look down from 
Heaven will in the future recognize us as the 
" Conservators of the Union." 

We are not without assistants ; even our late 
civil war has done much to aid us. 

Minnesota and Maine and Massachusetts have 
fought side by side. A wise chieftain transported 
whole corps d^armee from the Army of the Poto- 
mac to the Army of the West, and Western 
troops from West to East, and at a time when 



14 CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 

evil tongues were crying out, "Why does not the 
Army of the Potomac move"? The Hero of 
the West was, by the hand of Providence, brought 
East, to hear his very aides exclaim, " The Army 
of the Potomac does fight." All this was neces- 
sary for our preservation. Was not the hand of 
Providence in this ? 

This war, conducted as it was, produced a feel- 
ing we must foster, and Whittier's words will 
apply to-day as if spoken in a spirit of true pro- 
phecy : 

Now shall the Northern pioneer go joyful on his way; 

To well Penobscot's waters to San Francisco's Bay; 

To make the rugged places smooth, and sow the vales jvith grain- 

And bear, with Liberty and Law, the Bible.in his train; 

The mighty West shall bless the East, and sea siiall answer sea, 

And mountain unto mountain call: Praise God, for we are free ! 

Reunions such as our own have been estab- 
lished, and at Boston, New York, St. Louis, 
Cincinnati, brotherly feelings, mutual respect, 
national unity of purpose, are all fostered. 

These men must not, cannot let this great 
national bond be broken into State fragments— 
and Brethren of the Cincinnati, we have here a 
duty. 

Turn not, I beg of you, a cold, dispiriting look 



CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 15 

upon a younger Society, but join with Holmes, 
and say : 

" These boys we talk about like ancient sages 
.Ire the same men we read of in old pages, 
The bronze re-cast of dead heroic ages. 

'Tis the spirit of our forefathers that speaks 
through Hohnes. He saw the light, and seeing, 
in few words gave life and spirit to many a tired 
soldier. 

Dignify and encourage all such feelings, by 
legislation, by writing, by preaching; give strength 
to those who work for unity, respect, and mutual 
confidence. 

It is your duty and your right, since so many 
of you can speak with Holland to-night, and in 
speaking of your friends of 1861, say : 

One sleeps beside the Tennessee, 
And one beside the James ; 

And one fought on a gallant ship 
And perished in its flames ; 

And some, struck down by fell disease, 
Are breathing out their life; 

And others, maimed by cruel wounds, 
Have left the deadly strife." 

A nation's monuments will aid us. 

Can an Athenian pass by the mound at Mara- 
thon without a feeling of joyous pride ? Are 
Trajan's Column, the Arch of Titus, and Russia's 
Kremlin of no national effect ? 



16 CONSERVATORS OF THE UNION. 

The broken Colonne Yendome, the Arc de 
L'Etoile, the Hotel des Invalides, all have their 
influence. 

The nationality of Russia, the centralization of 
Prussian power, have their representatives in the 
statues of Peter the Great and Frederick. 

At Gettysburgh, amidst the thousands of graves 
marked " Unl^own," a simple monument recalls 
to mind that those green mounds are raised over 
the remains of noble Christian patriots from every 
State in our Union. 

It is not the thoughts of the Rebellion that 
crowd so swiftly over us ! No ! rather the feeling 
of pride, of honest, honorable thanksgiving, that 
God in his mercy gaVe us men in the time of pub- 
lic disaster and national dishonor. 

Take your place there to-day, and I care not 
what State or County or City you may represent, 
you will leave a prouder man and a better citizen. 

The Cities of the Dead are the monuments we 
have already raised to remind our citizens that 
God Himself established this great Union. 

Who shall dare to rend it ? 






'& 



